Why are we such hypocrites? I was writing my donation to the World Wildlife Fund because of my concern about the devastation of the rain forests endangering wildlife when I started thinking about the travesty in my own backyard. The proposed Safeway in Deale will be jeopardizing the wildlife of Southern Anne Arundel County and Chesapeake Bay.

Safeway is not proposing a small country store but a huge 77,000-square-foot shopping mall with a 400-car parking lot. I shudder to think what impact this is going to have on our bird population, which includes bald eagles.

Until I moved to this area, I had no idea how many migratory birds winter on the Chesapeake. In November, I eagerly await the arrival of the whistling swans and ring-billed gulls. All during the winter, we have the thrill of seeing hundreds of swans. What a sight to behold! Just after the swans depart in the early spring, the osprey arrive. The biggest thrill of all is seeing a bald eagle soaring with a fish in its talons, alighting in a nearby tree.

We live in a fragile wetlands and are crying out to be heard. What damage will be done to Chesapeake Bay when the land is cleared and there are toxic run-offs from the rains? How will the wildlife be affected when there is bright light all through the night? This tragedy will occur if we allow it to happen in the name of progress.

We condemn the natives in the rain forest for ravaging the land but sit idly by and watch it happen in our own backyard. Perhaps there is still a chance to have our voices heard.

Editor's note: The U.S. Coast Guard controls the aids to navigation - light, foghorn and radio tower - from Baltimore, staffing the radio station only on weekends. But for the first time in 15 years, the small keeper's house again has a full-time resident, a caretaker provided by Calvert County, which now owns the Cove Point Light Station. The Station is operated as a historic site by Calvert Marine Museum. Shuttle bus tours are scheduled to begin weekends in May. Information? Calvert Marine Museum 410/326-2042.